Best man for the job plain and simple. It doesnt have to be a "Wofford" guy. RJ is doing due diligence which is what we hope he would do. He may have a short list but not revealing until the right moment. Who knows Rich Rodriquez may have parents in Spartanburg and wants to coach in Sparkle City. Not true but, you never know unless you put feelers out to see what kind of interest you get.

Wish this would have happen last year. I think Furman stole one of our 1st choices

I’m going to be clear in this post. I love Wofford like all of you and was involved in athletics. I love Coach Ayers and believe he is one of the finest persons on earth. I love RJ as well. And I’m speaking in love when I say this: I have very little confidence in his ability to handle this. I sense that there has been tension between him an MA. So RJ might be stubborn and end up screwing this up royally. I was never a fan of him being named AD. I feel he had find a serviceable job, but nothing really stands out. Coach Garritty was a good hire but Farmer stayed way too long.

I have always had a pretty close relationship with MA and RJ. Over the years MA has always been the same but over the last few years RJ has become more distant. I say all that to say that I am not confident that RJ is ax emotionally invested as he should be.

And if he bungles this I would lose absolutely no sleep for the enormous heat he willj take. And I would probably throw a lot of wood on the fire myself.

I would think by Dec. 29... Here is my reasoning...Dead Period goes to Jan. 11Take 2 weeks and assemble your staff (all applicants would have 2/3 of the staff they would want fugured out anyhow)Gives 3 weeks for in homes and officials on campusAlso gives you 8 days with the boys on campus Jan. 3 for meetingsI think 16 Days is plenty to interview and process hiring the best guy

wocomouth wrote:I'm basing this on a few conversations with folks I consider to be in the know:

If you think MA told RJ, you're sadly mistaken. There are MAJOR trust issues in our athletic department between the head coaches and the AD.

We will screw this search up bc of the feeling our president and AD have.....that the institution is too inbred. When was the last time a Wofford person was hired or promoted internally? Every department in the college is slowly being run by folks who didnt graduate from Wofford. Don't believe me? Look it up in the college directory.

I'm usually a defender of the president, but this is true and I'm not surprised

I think there are more risks going outside of the coaching tree, particularly with on-staff harmony.

Having said that, I see the arguments in favor of change and it would, for better or worse, fall in line with the philosophy of the President. It's an approach that has paid off in some areas and not in others (some staff leaving, but bringing good talent as well). I have no idea how that translates to the football team.

Having said that, I think it's most important that decision is made fast. If we push this decision into the new year and pick a brand new coach, that would be bad because it would doubly hurt recruiting.

Next year is going to be a year of transition anyway to be honest and there's a lot more parity in recruiting at this level than you'd think.

If we do not hire an internal or Wofford candidate then RJ has fumbled the opportunity to ensure stability and success. I seriously doubt that Wofford would commit the funds to hire away - with an appropriate HC + staff salary - an OC/DC/HC from FBS (or maybe even from similar FCS) programs.

My initial reaction was to throw my support behind Coach Nash since he is a friend and was a teammate, with the impression from my playing days that Coach Lang would not want to move up to the Head Coaching position.

However, we all mellow and have our priorities change as we mature and gain experience. If Coach Ayers provides vocal support for Coach Lang, then how could anyone ignore that recommendation?

After 30 years of outstanding service, I feel like it is appropriate to accept Coach Ayers' recommendation and promote Coach Lang from interim to permanent Head Coach.

If Coach Lang declines, then offer Coach Nash. If he declines, evaluate other internal and external candidates on the Coach Ayers tree.